Wizard,Its a shame you didnt enjoy your holiday in Turkey,As a mod I am sure you must have seen the bad reports about Goldtrail.I have been to Turkey lots of times but wouldnt go free with Goldtrail.
The best hotel in Side is the Hemera which has brilliant reviews.Side is also more popular with other European visitors and when friends who have never been to Turkey before ask me which resort I would recommend I always tell them Icmeler, in either May,June, September or October.

brian sorry to hear of your bad experience i'm sure it was just a goldtrail thing as jay said i would not use there holiday agents as they only use the bottom end accomadation or people just starting out
the standards required by uk t/o is far higher but so is the cost, please don't judge the one area and hotel as the rest being like it as i can assure you this is not the norm

I agree with Jay & Maverick, you picked the wrong tour opperator. My friends camewith us to Turkey last year after years of going to Greece, they were very optamistic and could not believe how friendly the Turkish people were compared to the Greeks.

I will be going back to Turkey for the 13th time in September and can honestly say I have yet to find unfriendly people in Icmeler, Olu Deniz and Kalkan.

BarbH

I agree with the others about Goldtrail, i wouldn`t stay in one of their Turkey hotels if they paid for me.
My sister used them the 1st time she came to marmaris and got put in a hovel but it didnt put her off going back, she booked the hotel that we stayed in and loved it.

The first time I used Goldtrail I thought I'd never use them again, but the following year we found a hotel we liked in their brochure that was also in the Thomas Cook brochure, so we compared their prices and saved about £150 (theres 2 of us) by going with Goldtrail. We still use Goldtrail because they are cheaper but always check out the reviews on hotels first, so far, no problem. Got to admit tho' they do have some very grotty places.

Hi everyone,
my son arrivedhome from Marmaris last night and said he'd had a brilliant time. It was his first time to Turkey and he was really glad he went. The only down point for him was that he'd gone expecting a cheapie holiday when in fact the prices in Bar street were more expensive than home

Luckily they were all inclusive (first time) and spent most of their time in the hotel and only ventured to Bar street on a couple of occasions after the AI had finnished at 11. Now I know you should expect inflated prices in Bar Street but they're used to the 18-30 type clubs of Playa D Las Americas, Kavos and Magalluf and still thought Bar Street Marmaris was expensive.

He thought the hotel was lovely - well 4* AI would be when you're used to grotty 1* 18-30 accomodation, and hopes to return there someday. They had beautiful weather and did 2 trips - the Jeep Safari and a boat trip, both of which were great.

They had a good deal through holidayclick (or something like that) but once on their transfer minibus didn't see a rep for the rest of the holiday. Not even to find out about the return transfer time- the company had no notice board at the hotel and it was through the kindness of the receptionist making a phone call on the day of their return, that they found out the info they needed.

All in all, it was a fab holiday.

Thanks for the link to your report Brian, I'm going o take a look now.

i'm just back from marmaris last monday,well what can i say my family had a brillant time,me my husband,2 boys aged 15 & 10,plus my mum & dad went.We stayed in club excelsior,the hotel had everything for the kids both day & night..and the staff was all so friendly..We done the lazy day trip & the turtle beach in which we didnt enjoy as it was too long & you were sorted pushed for time when you got to turtle beach & the mud baths..Lazy day trip was all inclusive my youngest loved going up to the bar all the time for the drinks ....My husband took the boys aswell on the quads they said what a day, fantastic!!!

As for me well being a woman just loved the shopping:D...bags, jeans, t-shirts,shoes so much to chose from. just didnt like the market to much hassle.the weather was very hot 50's plus we felt the bit of the earth quake,what a experince..A few nights we went to the ibrox bar they had rocky show,michael jackson, & robo cop shows,very entertaining,they also put on a firework display on the 11th july in which a boat was brought in from rhodes for this.

I would say turkey has been my fav holiday & i have been to spain quite alot & greece would defo go back to it

We had our first trip in May, went to Belek as hubby and son plays golf. We stayed at the Cornelia DeLuxe Resort. They loved the golf so much we have just booked to go back again September 9th for another 2 weeks but this time staying at the Sirene Golf and Wellness Hotel. As this hotel has 2 golf courses affiliated to it.
More sunbathing and relaxing for me.

Just back from Altinkum on Monday 1st time to Turkey for both me and oh and had a brilliant holiday best we've had actually ..we did diy and stayed in a great apartment in Didim ...the turkish people were so lovely they couldn't do enough for us ...we will be returning

Hi,

This part of the original post on this thread caught my eye -

"DS games at market and readily available £50 for 114 games - all latest and working well"

I just thought I'd mention that you can actually buy the R4 card in the UK and download at least that many games, if not more, yourself for about £25.

Elaine

Hi Elaine,

One of the kids mentioned this to me but didn't pay too much attention at the time. Where can I get one? & is it easy to do? (I'm a bit of a technophobe) sure one of the girls could manage though.

Thanx

Julesx

I've pm'd you ju-ann - don't want this thread going off topic .

Elaine

Hi All.
having decided to take a late break at the end of July my wife and i headed to Belfast to book a week in Spain for our family (2 kids). All operaters wanted 1200 or more for a week so we plumped for Turkey even though we had heard loads of bad reports.
We arrived in Icemeler on Tuesday 22nd July and let me just say this now I am so glad we did not get Spain. What a wonderful time we had in Turkey. Perfect Perfect Perfect. And this was our first visit. The friendliest people we have ever met. We also travelled with Goldtrail and with the exception of a minor fault at arrival at our apartments which was quickly resolved everything was fine. The old village of Icemeler is the most beautiful place I have seen (where we stayed ). I am off to the travel agents on Monday to book next year and I have talked my brother and his Family (spain lovers) to go as well.
So if anyone has not tried Turkey yet please give it a try. You may be pleasently surprised. I was. Its Turkey for us from now on

teac532s

Firstly welcome to the forums and thanks for taking the time to post your comments on your first trip to Turkey. Despite the fact we always stay in Marmaris we usually visit Icmeler and it is certainly a wonderful place. If you get the chance could you let us know a wee bit more about your holiday. Did you enjoy the food, what did you think of the prices being a first timer. Great news too that you intend going back.

Wilson

Hi Wilson

Yes loved the food and special mention to Tommys in the old village. We were able to eat out for about 80 lira each night (4 of us) which to me was very reasonable. This was 4 main courses (chicken one night sirloin next etc) and a few drinks each so very good prices.The apartments we stayed in were charging 4 lira for efes but still a lot cheaper than I thought it would be. Down town 2 Pina colodas for 12 lira and found a restaurant doing efes for 2 lira. I thought personally that the prices were fine.Being our first time I took extra money but did not need it.
Goldtrail were ok though the rep was absent at times though as I said earlieer we were happy enough with the apartments we stayed in. Basic but clean and very friendly staff and people, nice pool and covered bar area. Weather was excellent 50+ degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Kids did not want to come home.
The food was excellent no matter where we went for a meal. Local supermarket deserves a mention as the owner was a true gentleman, helped us with choosing some basic stuff like butter etc, in fact when we go next year i will be taking a bottle of fine irish whiskey as a present from the family for the gentleman.
All in all we had a brilliant time in turkey. Quiet when we wanted and good shows down town at night when we wanted.
I will say that the only gripe I can think of is the prices on the flights with onur air for crisps and snacks for the kids. A bit over priced. Other than that no complaints. Just browsing the holiday snaps now and wishing I was back already.
by the way anyone know what the whistling type noise is in the trees. must say it puzzled us and a few other guests. Many a hilarious guesses though with a few efes in us lol.
Lots of good nightlife down town and also some quieter bars if you prefer.Seems to me that Icemelr caters for everyones taste. Must say that the hassle from the shops was not as bad as we were told. Did a fair bit of shopping (and haggling) with not a lot of hassle.
I would highly recomend Turkey to anyone who asks and definetly Icemeler.

Its nice to see new converts to Turkey. My family have always poured scorn on us going to Turkey and can't understand why we go there so often. That would be because they have never been! Although now I'm detecting a bit of interest from my Mum, that was never there before. Glad you enjoyed it teac532s.

Hi teac532s and welcome to HT!

If you haven't done so already we would really appreciate it if you could post a review of your hotel by clicking Hotel Reviews at the top of the page.

Thanks

luci

Hi Luci

Already done it but can not post the link. Its the Daphne Apts 2nd review down

Many thanks for the review HERE

luci